Which Amazon Kindle Is Actually the Best for You? We Have You Covered

We broke down Amazon's entire line of e-readers — including the Kindle, Paperwhite, Voyage, and Oasis — to explain their differences and features and help you determine which one is best for your needs and budget.

Just like when you step foot in a bookstore and become overwhelmed with choices for what to read next, it's just as complicated to pick out a Kindle. Today, Amazon sells four e-readers that are all smaller than a paperback, have 6-inch touchscreen e-ink displays, and pack 4 GB of storage, so you can carry thousands of books at a time. While they look quite similar on the outside, they vary significantly in pricing and features. We want to help you decide which one is best for your needs and budget, so you can spend more time actually reading books than deciding on what device you're going to read them on.

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Kindle

The Kindle is Amazon's most affordable model. It typically sells for $80, but frequently goes on sale for Amazon Prime members — sometimes even reaching prices as low as $50. The device comes in black or white, and it features the lowest resolution screen of the four models, coming in at 167 ppi. There's just a single button on this e-reader to power the device on and off. Pages are turned by tapping the sides of the touch screen or with a quick swiping gesture. The screen is responsive and refreshes fast, but it isn't as smooth of an experience as the other Kindle models. Plus, the Kindle also feels more cheap and plastic-like than the more expensive versions. It also has a shorter battery life of four weeks, compared to the other kinds with six to eight weeks.

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We think this entry-level Kindle is best for kids or bookworms on a budget. It doesn't have a built-in backlight, which is good for kids, but it's bad for adults who are night owls and like to read late. You should know that Amazon also sells a Kindle for Kids Bundle, which comes with a colorful cover to protect it from scratches and a 2-year worry-free guarantee, which means Amazon will replace the Kindle if it breaks from accidents like drops or spills.

Additionally, to make for a lower price, Amazon sells all of its Kindles with "special offers," which are ads that appear on the lock screen when the Kindle is turned off or at the top of the home screen. The ads never appear while a book is opened. You can pay $20 to remove the special offers up front, or you can pay the fee later on down the line.

Kindle Paperwhite

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The Kindle Paperwhite is the best Kindle for most people. It usually costs $120, but we expect a $90 price for Black Friday this year. The Paperwhite, which comes in black or white, has the same display size and 300 ppi resolution as more expensive Kindles. The screen is sharp and text is crisp, and it's easy on the eyes. Plus, it's backlit by four LEDs, so it's much better for reading at night than the entry-level Kindle. The Kindle Paperwhite weighs less than an iPhone 8 Plus, and it measures 6.7 inches tall, making it comfortable to hold, compact, and light enough to fit in a small bag or purse. You turn the pages by swiping or tapping on its plastic capacitive touch screen.

The device charges with a standard MicroUSB port, the same used by most Android phones. Amazon says the Paperwhite gets up to six weeks of battery life. That's plenty long enough for a vacation overseas with no need to worry about purchasing an international adapter to recharge it. You can also pay an extra $30 for an always-on 3G connection, so you can download books anywhere in the world. This feature comes in handy for travelers who don't always have access to Wi-Fi. However, we think the standard Wi-Fi-only model will do fine for most people.

Kindle Voyage

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Amazon's $200+ Kindle Voyage builds upon the Paperwhite by adding physical buttons for page turning and an adaptive backlight so the brightness level will automatically change based on the environment you're in. This e-reader has improved contrast and six LEDs (compared to the Paperwhite's four) for illuminating your books.

It comes in black and offers a 12% lighter body, six weeks of battery life, and a three-hour charge time — an hour less than the Paperwhite and entry-level Kindle. It features a micro-etched glass screen that further reduces glare, and it feels more like paper to the touch. At just 7.6 mm thick, it's 16% thinner than the Paperwhite and entry-level Kindle as well.

We don't think the Voyage's smaller lighter exterior, brighter adaptive backlight, and added buttons make it worth the $80 cost to upgrade. If money is no object though, go for the Kindle Voyage. It's better, but the differences aren't significant, especially considering it has the same pixel density, six-week-long battery life, and 4GB of storage like the cheaper models.

Kindle Oasis

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Starting at $290, the Kindle Oasis is the most expensive Kindle — or e-reader, for that matter — that you can buy. It features a unique design where one edge of it is thicker than the other, so it feels more like you're holding a magazine than a screen. It's also equipped with an accelerometer, so if you flip your device, the screen will follow suit and rotate. The Kindle Oasis is more compact, travel-friendly, durable, and sharper than any other Kindle. It weighs just 4.7 ounces (40% less than the Kindle Paperwhite) and is just 3.4 millimeters thick at its thinnest point, which makes for good one-handed reading.

Rather than having capacitive buttons like the Voyage or requiring you to swipe or tap on its touchscreen like the Kindle or Kindle Paperwhite do, the Oasis has two buttons on its side: The top one goes to the next page, and the bottom takes you back. Flip the Oasis and it adjusts accordingly, thanks to that accelerometer we mentioned earlier. The Oasis even comes with a detachable leather case with a built-in battery pack for extending its eight-week battery life to a couple months more.

The display is the sharpest one on a Kindle yet. Its 10 LEDs provide even backlighting from both sides, but oddly enough, the Oasis lacks the adaptive light sensor found in the Kindle Voyage. It does have twice as much RAM as older models though, so page turns and navigating menus and Amazon's expansive digital bookstore is faster.

Given that the word "oasis" means a fertile spot, one may assume the Kindle Oasis is waterproof, but alas, it is not. While the pool, bathtub, and beach are some of people's favorite places to read, they aren't necessarily the safest spaces for electronics. Considering its expensive $290 price, we're disappointed the Kindle Oasis doesn't feature any waterproofing like the more affordable Nook GlowLight Plus and Kobo Aura H20 e-readers do. Regardless, if you want the latest and greatest e-book reader and can swallow its expensive price, the Kindle Oasis is the best one you can buy.

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